Iota 07 June 2017
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iOTA 07 June 2017 CONTENTS Thisish Cover - Terran Times 3 02 Editorial - of sorts - iOTA goes to a convention 02 1954 - The Third Australia SF Convention - The beginning of the end for Sydney fandom 05 The History Corner - The Art of History 11 Encountering Science Fiction - with George Turner 14 1968 - Paul Stevens Turns on the Censors - A one act play about censorship in Australia 21 1970 - Fanzine Review - Terran Times 3 22 The Long and Winding Road to Aussiecon - success at the HeiCon 70 business session 24 Progress Report - at the Monash Special Collection 25 The Photo File - Arthur C Clarke in Queensland 27 Your Say - Lee Harding, Bruce Gillespie, Rob Gerrand Roman Orszanski and Marc Ortlieb 27 1968 - Graham Stone Makes John Bangsund’s Blood Boil - More about the Australian SF Association 31 1972 - Adelaide’s First Convention - Bruce Gillespie Spills the Beans 34 iOTA 07, June 2017, page 1 iOTA is the little efanzine put together by Leigh Edmonds McCormack and Nomad were the first generation of media fans who can be contacted electronically, and in almost no other way, in Australia and their fanzine was among the first (if not the first) at [email protected]. media fanzine to be published in Australia. Because of the This little efanzine is produced as a progress report on my relationship that had developed between Shayne, Nomad and current project to research and write a history of Australian several fans who were fannishly inclined, Terran Times is firmly fandom, focusing on the period between 1956 and 1975. iOTA is a media fanzine, but with a twist of fannishness to give it a light a research tool and document, containing some of the material and and entertaining edge. thoughts that will be used in writing the history. It is also a place Editorial - of sorts where I publish bits and pieces of the writing and art of Australia’s First, the technical stuff fannish past to help introduce you to the rich vein of material that What I did not realize is that some of you reading this have previous generations of Australian fans have left us. If you want not been seeing it the way that I see it on my screen. This has more details about this history project you’ll find them in the first something to do with the fonts that I’ve been using, such as the issue of iOTA. headings in ‘Cooper Black’. Apparently, if you don’t have that iOTA is more or less available for ‘the usual’ but two things font already loaded onto your computer the iOTA pdf file choses bring its editor the greatest fannish pleasure. One is great gobs of a different font. Don’t ask me to explain it any further, if you egoboo and the other is a contributions to the discourse of want the technical details write to Roman Orszanski who pointed understanding and writing a history of Australian fandom such as out the problem and also showed me the solution. Smart boy commentary on items published in previous issues of iOTA, Roman. So now, I hope, what I see and what you see are the same suggestions of further sources for research or individual thing. contributions on the general topic of this efanzine. If all else fails, issues of iOTA are put up on efanzines.com fairly soon after I’ve iOTA goes to a convention completed them. I guess that the most recent convention I’ve been to was Thisish’s Cover Aussiecon 4, and that was about 7 years ago. (My, time flies...) Not that I have anything against conventions, it’s just that they The cover of Etherline on the previous issue of iOTA located don’t hold the same fascination they once did and so we haven’t us squarely in the mid 1950s when stf was locked inside its genre gone out of our way to attend them recently. walls and fans concentrated on being serious about their interest. However, having embarked upon this project I thought it With this issue we find ourselves at the beginning of the 1970s would be interesting to attend at least one day of a convention to when two new ideas were taking hold in Australia; fannish fandom see what they are like these days. My original plan was just to and media fandom. The editors of Terran Times, Shayne iOTA 07, June 2017, page 2 pop along for a day to the 2017 Melbourne convention, having to have a young fan point me to where I needed to go, I Continuum 13, which was also the 56th Australian National SF found my way to registration and traded my ticket for a dog tag Convention, and observe what went on from the back row. Then that allowed me to wander around at the convention for the day. things happened and I ended up moderating a Fan History panel Very soon I discovered something about modern day conventions which ensured that I would be there, but with a little responsibility that quite astounded me. too. A couple of issue ago I commented on how much the fan So I bought a ‘ticket’ for the day and wondered that it cost publishing scene has changed in a few decades, due to modern me $75 (with a concession, one of the few advantages of getting on electronic technology which has changed the way that fans in years), I’ll have to go back and see how much it cost to join the communicate with each other. I had thought that somehow this 7th national convention in 1966, probably only a couple of dollars. would change conventions too, but I soon found that it hasn’t, to But that’s inflation for you. I then trundled down to the railway any noticeable extent. The trappings have changed a bit but, in station and booked my free pensioner train ticket for the trip to essence, the convention I attended in 2017 is not much different Melbourne, made a few other arrangements, and I was set. to my first convention in 1966. One of the arrangements I made was to prepare a handout Conventions, it seems, are still about the clan coming for the panel, the beginnings of an annotated chronology which I together and fans meeting, talking and no doubt, since the called, due to lack of inspiration, Australian Fandom, Adventures convention was in a hotel, doing other things that fans can do in in Time. It has pictures on the front and back covers and most of private if they so desire. Little clumps of fans gathered here and the interior is my first attempts at an annotated chronology of there around the venue talking about this and that. From some of Australian fandom which goes up to the publication of the first the conversation I overhead, there seemed to be more ‘filthy pro’ issue of Australian SF Review in 1966. The chronology sitting on talk than there used to be, but that is to be expected at a this computer goes further than that with details like references, convention where book launches seemed a common event. but I didn’t want to break the bank in publishing the handout so However I didn’t have time to overhear too many it’s only eight pages all up this time around. Somehow or another conversations, I spent most of the time talking to people too. I you will find it as a supplement to this issue of iOTA. had planned to sit in on some panels to see what fans are talking Finding the hotel was no problem, I am certain that Valma about these days but before I knew it I had bumped into Roman and I attended a Doctor Who convention there in the late 1970s. and then Justin and then Marc and Bruce and... well it went on Even if the hotel has changed name and had a face lift it is still in like that for the rest of the day. There were a few fans who I had the same place where we left it. not met before and naughty Gillian Polack chatted with me about After the initial process of getting lost in the foyer and worldcons and this and that, playing me along until I recognized iOTA 07, June 2017, page 3 who she was. A little later I found myself talking to Carey with somebody I did not recognize. After a while somebody else Lenehan about writing and publishing, Lucy Sussex about various came in - Lee Harding actually - and gradually a clump of people things including George Turner and, later in the day, with Roman had clustered around the table talking in animated fashion. Orszanski about uranium and energy generation, with lots more in between. I was getting quite hoarse by the end of the day. I did manage to tear myself away from all this to catch part of one panel and was reminded, very quickly, how tedious they can be. People told me that the Guest of Honor was highly entertaining so I took in a couple of minutes of her performance, but I’ve already seen enough of that kind of thing at conventions to want to hang around. By the time I arrived on the scene some of the crowd has wandered off. In the background we have Sean McMullen and Lee Harding talking to someone who may be Sean’s daughter. Seated at the table we have, with their backs to us, Bruce Gillespie and Roman Orszanski, and facing us Dick Jennsen, Jack Dann, Janeen Webb and Bill Wright.